World’s most famous dress ready to be viewed in Edmonton (video)

Diana’s wedding gown will be displayed at WEM

Diana¹s wedding gown is unveiled at a display at West Edmonton Mall. Its handler Graeme Murton talks about the exhibit: Diana, A Celebration, and about the life of Princess Diana. Video by Bruce Edwards.

EDMONTON - The most famous dress in the world has arrived in Edmonton, a piece of clothing of such iconic value its two handlers describe it as priceless.

Made from dozens of metres of surprisingly lightweight satin and tulle, the ivory gown was viewed by more than a billion people worldwide the first and only time it was ever worn, when the late Diana Spencer married Prince Charles more than 31 years ago.

The dress, along with its spectacular, 7.5-metre train and veil, is the showpiece of the exhibit Diana, A Celebration, which opens at West Edmonton Mall on Saturday and runs until June 9.

It was uncrated from its hermetically sealed travelling case in a special media preview Wednesday by the only two people allowed to touch it (and then only with gloves) — Graeme Murton and Nick Grossmark, who accompany the dress and other clothing and memorabilia in the exhibit as it travels around the world.

Made by relatively unknown British dressmakers Elizabeth and David Emanuel, the dress and five matching bridesmaids dresses cost a total of about $1,900 (Canadian), paid for by Diana’s mother.

Its value now is incalculable, says Murton. “For one, it would never be sold. And how do you put a price on history?”

The dress was made to Diana’s specifications. “She wanted a fairy-tale wedding dress,” explains Murton. “It had to have a big impact because (St. Paul’s in London) was such a large cathedral.”

With its puffy sleeves ending in satin bows and elaborate lace at the elbows, lace collar and full, satin skirt, the dress, hand-embroidered with more than 10,000 mother-of-pearl sequins and pearls, was “of the moment” when in was made in 1981, says Grossmark. Its creation was shrouded in secrecy, the windows of the Emanuels’s Mayfair shop painted over, their trash guarded and carted away separately to keep scroungers from sneaking a peek at material scraps.

Diana practised for her wedding day by wearing six metres of cotton sheathing behind the dress to get a feel for what the train would be like, he adds. The long veil was apparently even more difficult to wear than the train, because its full length and weight was borne by the Spencer family tiara, attached to the princess’s head.

Along with the wedding gown, the exhibition includes 28 of Diana’s dresses and suits, two of her tiaras, photographs, home movies and other family mementos.

Art handlers Nick Grossmark, right, and Graeme Murton unpacked the royal wedding gown worn by Diana, Princess of Wales on Wednesday, prior to the Saturday opening of Diana: A Celebration at the West Edmonton Mall.